Handsome sunflower in the photo and in the garden
The beautiful name sunflower belongs to an amazingly beautiful plant that has a lot of species, both wild and cultivated and bred by breeders.
Content:
Appearance and varieties of sunflower
The sunflower in the photo, not to mention the plant in the garden itself, is very beautiful. Its colors are varied - from pale pink to bright orange, from white to dark purple. Sunflower is an evergreen sprawling plant in the form of a shrub, reaching a height of 30 cm.Like its flowers, there are many colors, so the leaves can be both dark green and silvery gray.
Sunflower varieties with silvery-gray leaves are less hardy than varieties with dark green leaves. Varieties with silver gray leaves include:
- Polar bear (Eisbar). Flowers are white with yellow eyes;
- Fire Dragon. The flowers are orange-red in color.
The sunflower has two types of flowers: with simple and double flowers. Simple flowers open in the morning and close at noon. They are ephemeral, but due to the emergence of new flowers in large numbers, the sunflower is in constant bloom.
The most popular varieties with simple flowers include:
- Lawrensons Pink. The flowers are light pink;
- Golden Queen. The flowers are yellow;
- Brown gold (Braungold). The flowers are orange-red.
A sunflower with double flowers opens, as with simple flowers, in the morning, but flowering continues all day. Famous varieties include:
- Cherry Queen (Cerise Queen). Cherry red flowers;
- Sulfurium (Sulfureum Plenum). Flowers are yellow;
- Rubin. The flowers are bright scarlet.
Sunflower care secrets
Growing a sunflower is absolutely simple, provided that some conditions are comfortable for it:
- the very name "sunflower" indicates that the plant loves sunny, dry and well-drained areas. The soil can be stony, calcareous or sandy;
- in a special watering the plant does not need. It is necessary to water it only in dry weather;
- after the first flowering, the sunflower is cut to 1/3 of the length of the shoots, after which the plant blooms again, though not as violently as the first time;
- there is no need to feed the sunflower. Top dressing stimulates lush growth of leaves, and as a result, flowering is weakened;
- in the cultivation of sunflower there is such a feature - the flowers of red and pink shades are annual, they do not tolerate frost and die. And flowers of shades of the sun - yellow, orange - winter successfully. In severe frosts, they need additional shelter, but if the frost in the region does not fall below minus ten degrees, then the plant will successfully overwinter just under the snow;
- sunflower, of course, is best grown in containers. This will surely save the plant for the winter. And care and favorable growing conditions in a container are much easier to create, especially if the site is not too suitable for growing sunflower;
- when buying sunflower seedlings in the spring, you need to pay attention to healthy leaves and flowers, as well as to the root system: it must be well developed;
- reproduce the sunflower cuttings... For these purposes, varieties with double flowers are suitable.In June, the tops of the plant up to 10 cm long are cut off from the shoots that do not bloom and planted in pots. For planting, a mixture of peat and sand is used. The pots are covered with plastic bags. After the first leaves appear, the packages are removed and the rooted cuttings are planted in the ground;
- sunflower can be affected by a fungal disease called septoria, which manifests itself as brown spots on the leaves. If infected leaves are found, they must be removed and burned, and the plant should be sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.
Sunflower in garden design
Due to its resistance to drought, the sunflower feels great on alpine hills with any, even the most abrupt, slope. It also grows between stones, where access to the soil is difficult.
The sunflower looks great in the borders of flower beds and garden paths. It goes well with other ground cover plants and herbaceous perennials. The type of sunflowers with silvery-gray leaves looks interesting against the background of plants with dark green needles or foliage, even during the period when the sunflower is not blooming.
Against the background of the green foliage of the sunflower, spring flowers such as hyacinths, tulips, daffodils look expressive. When they fade, it is the turn of the bright bloom of the sunflower. Thus, the foreground of any flower garden will have a spectacular appearance throughout the entire spring-summer period.
A blooming sunflower planted in a container can be used to decorate a terrace, a green lawn, or any recreation area. While the sun is shining, not covered by autumn clouds, from May to September, the sunflower on the site will delight the eye with beautiful greenery and bright, sunny colors.